Chair Chi: Remembering Jim

We’re busy preparing for our upcoming Aged Care Chair Chi Training workshops in Shepparton and Melbourne and the other day I had a chance to reflect on an experience I had at one of my regular Chair Chi sessions at John R Hannah.

When I walked in one of the residents greeted me and thanked me for sharing a tribute I wrote about Jim, a resident, who passed away recently. She read the tribute in the local newsletter – I gave the co-ordinator permission to reprint the article.

I also received a thank you from the family of Jim and the co-ordinator for the article.

Jim always sat to the right of me at our fortnightly Chair Chi sessions at an aged care centre. He was always enthusiastic and occasionally nodded off to sleep for a few seconds but that was okay – most residents did that once in a while.

The last time I saw Jim he had just come out of hospital but he was determined to attend the Chair Chi session and he did. His foot was bandaged and for most of the session he nodded off to sleep.

A few days later I received an email telling me Jim had passed away. I was sad to hear he was gone but I do remember the two gifts he left me.

One was the gift of sharing stories in the limited time we had before a session – he was usually the first to arrive. And the other gift was his inspiring attitude which still resonates with me.